Sanitary
and phytosanitary measures

Problem:
How do you ensure that your countrys consumers are
being supplied with food that is safe to eat 
safe by the standards you consider
appropriate? And at the same time, how can you ensure
that strict health and safety regulations are not being
used as an excuse for protecting domestic producers?

An
agreement on how governments can apply food safety and
animal and plant health measures (sanitary and
phytosanitary or SPS measures) sets out the basic rules
in the WTO.

SPS Notification Submission System
National Notification Authorities can now use the SPS Notification Submission System (SPS NSS) to fill out and submit SPS notifications online.

Work
on SPS in the WTO, and official documents

Work
on this subject is handled by the SPS Committee, which reports to the
Goods Council. The work is officially recorded in the committee’s
annual reports to the General Council and in summary reports
(equivalent to minutes) of the committee’s meetings. The last chair was
.

A joint initiative of the World Trade
Organization, World Health Organization, World Bank, World
Organization for Animal Health and Food and Agriculture Organization
for enhancing developing countries’ capacity to meet SPS standards.
Work includes sharing information on technical cooperation, and
finance for projects.

STDF News

The SPS NSS allows for more accurate and complete notifications, and a substantial reduction in the time required for the WTO to process and circulate them. The system has been available to Members since 1 June 2011 upon request.

Interested Members are requested to send an e-mail to the Secretariat (spscommittee@wto.org) so that their National Notification Authorities can receive login names and access passwords.

As of 14 February 2018, 78 Members have requested and been given access to the system, and 41 of these have officially submitted notifications via the SPS NSS.